


Alice (Prologue)

by playtherain (orphan_account)



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, Wonderlandstuck, what a silly AU name
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-13
Updated: 2015-05-13
Packaged: 2018-03-30 08:42:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3930334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/playtherain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It has long been prophesied that Alice would return to Wonderland.</p><p>The Cheshire Cat can see it on the wind, but not all are as concerned as she.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alice (Prologue)

**Author's Note:**

> Some pre-adventure setup for a new AU.

“Let's go for a walk, dearest Hatter.”  
The Cheshire Cat spoke pleasantly, politely, hanging as she always did over the tea table with her fur kept well out of the way of assorted pastries. Her ankles were crossed behind her, and her head lay in her hands; the perfect picture of relaxation. Hatter was almost offended by her lack of table manners, but kept this quite to herself – Chess's way was to be at ease, and it was often rather thankfully contagious.  
“You do not walk, Chess,” Hatter reminded her companion good-naturedly, not really looking up from the garment she was mending in her hands. Off in the distance, they could hear the Doormouse and the March Hare bickering lightly over missing sugar cubes (as per usual, they would be later located in March's shoes, completely intact and no worse for wear). Chess seemed slightly bothered by this, and made a great show of sinking slowly back to earth to stand nervously on her own two feet. This made the Hatter look up from her work, a tiny, concerned frown already working its way between her brows. Chess attempted an unbothered and annoyed expression, but it barely touched her eyes. “Now may we walk?” she asked, leaning forward just slightly. Her toes curled in the grass, her hands moving to grasp the fluttering edge of her scarf, and Hatter felt at once that she must go now with Chess to wherever the strange cat wished to take her. The smiling mask she often wore when she could not make the smile herself was fetched from an invisible pocket, and settled on her face. Hatter left her garment and hat on the table and followed Chess into the woods at once.

“Is it Alice?” Hatter asked quietly, when they were surely out of earshot of Doormouse and March. Chess nodded only once behind her mask. “She is dreaming of Wonderland every night now. I have seen to it.” Hatter hummed in approval.  
“No nightmares, I hope?”  
“Wonderland is a nightmare. You and I know that very well.”  
“Now, Chess, there's no need to be quite so pessimistic.” They skirted around a large cluster of mushrooms, Chess had to stop herself from taking to the air again. The grass tickled the undersides of her feet. “How can Wonderland be a nightmare when all of us are so very happy?” Hatter said it without much mirth, her eyes were steely. Chess peered at her through her mask, “Suppose you aren't half as mad as you like others to think.”  
Hatter smiled again, lifting her eyebrows as they ambled their way through the familiar woods. “What makes you suppose such a thing?” she said serenely. The Cheshire Cat so very rarely had such straightforward conversations. She lapsed back into the comforting embrace of silence, and merely reached for Hatter's hand.  
“Kanaya.”  
Dark grey eyes hardened again, but they were suffused with tenderness. She squeezed Chess's hand. “I know,” came her eventual whisper, “I am scared, too.”  
“The Cheshire Cat is not afraid of a girl.”  
“What about Rose? How does Rose feel?”  
“There is little difference anymore.”  
“Suppose, for a moment, I was not half as mad as I like others to think.”  
Chess laughed to herself, a quiet, contained sound behind the fake face, and Hatter reached over at once to remove the mask. Chess allowed her to, but her laugh died with its departure. “What are you honestly concerned about?” Hatter asked her then. Chess finally did not dance around the subject.

“No message I place in her dreams will get through to her. I am afraid because I see that Alice no longer believes.”  
“I never took you for a religious person.”  
“It is not a question of faith.”  
“Surely it should be, then?”  
“How long can we go on pretending to be polite acquaintances, Kanaya?”

Hatter would never permit another soul to address her so freely by her name. It had been a gift to Chess, reciprocated by Chess's own name in return. A shared secret. Chess often joked it was so in order for Hatter to keep her in line. Hatter insisted otherwise.  
“Rose.”  
“When will you call me that without sadness in your voice?”  
This final question was ignored, and Kanaya was carefully aware of the emotion seeping into Rose's ever-stoic face. The quiet was instead filled by Kanaya replacing the grinning mask and pressing a kiss to its shiny, purple cheek. Rose's fingers closed just tighter around Kanaya's.

“Alice will come. This is sure.”  
“It is.”  
“Then do not bother yourself with her beliefs. We only need wait here, as we always have.”  
“How can you be so calm with the future, Kanaya? You cannot see it.”  
Kanaya sighed, burying the fingers of her free hand in Rose's hair, just behind her tall, lavender ear. It swivelled slightly, searching for noise. “Wonderland changes people,” the taller girl whispered with the wind. “She belonged here once. It can be again.”

Behind her grinning mask, Kanaya knew Rose was frowning.

“You always did look best with a smile.”

Rose's shoulders sagged a little.  
“It isn't mine.”  
“It will be in time. It may even be for me.”  
“They are all for you, Hatter. Dare not forget.”  
Kanaya felt her heart leap against her ribcage. She thought fleetingly of a tiny, weak bird struggling to break free. And Rose lifted her mask back up and stood on her tiptoes to kiss Kanaya proper.


End file.
